1 Samuel 28:11-15 “Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" And he said, "Bring up Samuel for me." (12) When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!" (13) And the king said to her, "Do not be afraid. What did you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I saw a spirit ascending out of the earth." (14) So, he said to her, "What is his form?" And she said, "An old man is coming up, and he is covered with a mantle." And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground and bowed down. (15) Now Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul answered, "I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams. Therefore, I have called you that you may reveal to me what I should do.”
The above quoted passage of scripture confirms to us the truth that Abraham’s bosom was located under the earth, for this passage describes Samuel as “ascending out of the earth”. This passage is an account of when Saul sinned against God, by consulting with a medium to call Samuel’s spirit up from the dead. Before Jesus went to the cross, mediums could bring up departed spirits because Satan as their god had the power of death and he held the keys of Hades and of Death. Nevertheless, although mediums could bring up people from Abraham’s bosom, they had no ability to bring anyone up from Hades, for God has decreed that none who enter there may come out until the Lord Jesus brings them out for their day of judgement. Satan no longer holds the keys of Hades and Death however, for when our Lord Jesus was raised from the dead He took those keys from Satan and Jesus now holds those keys (Revelation 1:18). And so mediums today are no longer able to bring up people from the dead because their god no longer has that power and authority. Those who are practicing this form of witchcraft today are being deceived by demons who take on the form of those who have been deceased, for just as Satan can transform himself into an angel of light, so his demons can also transform themselves in the form of those who have been deceased (2 Corinthians 11:14).
Michael E.B. Maher
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